An "evil" man and woman who attacked a pensioner and ransacked his home have been jailed.

Laurynas Dauksas, 25, and Aurelisa Galdikaite, 23, were sentenced to a total of 20 years in prison for the "despicable" attack on Arnold Hilton.

The 88-year-old former coal miner was punched and kicked and had "every drawer in every room" of his home in Upholland, Lancashire, ransacked during the burglary in March this year.

Mr Hilton has not been able to return to his house since the attack and is now living in a care home.

Dauksas and Galdikaite, of Bronte Close, Worsley Mesnes, Greater Manchester, pleaded guilty to robbery at an earlier court appearance, but a separate hearing at Liverpool Crown Court was held to determine the extent of the violence used.

Jailing the Lithuanians, Judge David Aubrey QC said: "This was an evil, despicable offence. You have, in effect, destroyed his life. You destroyed him - mercifully not with the ending of his life, but he believed it was going to occur.

"When his son arrived to discover him collapsed in his bedroom, he uttered the words to his son: 'I'm not going to make it'.

"Fortunately he did, but he never made it back to his own home and he never will make it back to his own home."

In police interviews, Dauksas said he and Galdikaite had got drunk and went looking for her missing dog when they stumbled across Mr Hilton's home.

In the burglary that followed, the pensioner suffered bruising to nine parts of his body, including his head, chest and shoulders, prosecutor Paul Becker said.

Dauksas, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison, had "expressed remorse for the attack", his defence said.

The court was told Galdikaite, who received a nine-year jail sentence, had suffered "stress and emotional hardship" after her young child was returned to Lithuania following her arrest.

In a statement, Lancashire Police said they had applied to the court to have the pair deported once they have served their sentence.